Celebrating Eleven Years

On June 28th, 1997, I promised to love my man for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death parts us. Our wedding day was everything we wanted.

Since then, we have lived in 6 different homes, changed jobs 4 times, and celebrated 3 little miracles born into our family. We have grown closer and closer to the Lord, learned how to give and receive, how to communicate honestly, love unconditionally, apologize and forgive, serve and sacrifice, encourage and come alongside, and how to extend our arms to welcome many into our home and family.

We love to laugh together, play and parent together. We love to minister together, and love people together. We can finish each others' sentences and one-up one another with '80s music trivia. He is better at Scrabble, but I'll play with him anyway. When one is tired, the other will take over. When one is sad, the other knows it, even from across the room. When one sings a wrong note the other smiles encouragingly and doesn't laugh. :)

We are a team, and we know very well that we are blessed to have one another.

I love Scott, more now than I did on our wedding day. I thank the Lord for giving me these years to share with this man.

I Can't Believe My Baby is FIVE!!

June 24th, 2003....our beautiful baby GIRL arrived! Grace Elizabeth Anne Rhyno


June 24th, 2008...our beautiful big girl celebrates with her birthday pancake for breakfast.

Currently Reading...

I'm reading this book, and it's putting words to the thoughts that have been swirling in my head and to the conviction that's been boiling in my heart over the last year and a half. I will report some thoughts when I can come up for air a little bit.

This, it seems, is a MUST READ.

The Body - *expounded*

How do you, a member of the Body of Christ, get outside the walls of your church and BE the Body in the world? What do you do personally?

I originally posted this several days ago, and though I've had nearly 200 readers since then, there was not one answer to my question.

**This is something that is weighing heavily on my heart, and I honestly am looking for some helpful feedback. As my understanding of worship has changed over the years, and as I've become more and more aware of how justice is in the heart of our worship, I am very aware that I need to find more and more ways to be light in my community. I need to do more than just be kind to the people who serve me at WalMart and volunteer at my kids' schools...I need to be actively involved in my community so that I purposefully evidence Christ there by meeting people's needs. With so much of my time being spent teaching and ministering in the church building, I am looking for your great ideas of how you have become actively involved in your communities.**

I hope this makes my question less daunting and less vague.

Band on the Run; A lesson in versatility

I have been taking a Songwriting course for three months. Recently, the owner of the Management Co. that offers the course gave me some opportunities to learn by doing: to write or collaborate on some music for a new artist heading into the studio in the next month or so. OF COURSE I jumped at that opportunity! So last week and this I wrote some songs for her, and I have discovered some exciting challenges along the way:

-When you write words for someone else to sing, you don't necessarily form them the same way you might say them yourself.
-When you write music for someone whose style is very different from your own, it is a lot more work to make it work!
-You can only learn this by trying, and trying again.
-There are definite musical and lyrical things that play into the commercialism of a song.
-Sometimes it's easy to limit yourself to whichever style has worked for you in the past...writing for someone else helps you jump back out of that box, dust yourself off, and try something new.

So I'm learning as I go...I'm walking through all of the open doors I see, and I'm eager to keep trying new things. Whether any of these songs make it into her studio or not, I don't know, but I've learned some valuable lessons in versatility. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store next!

And if I hear someone else singing my words on the radio someday, that would be very cool.